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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on September 3, 2013 at 11:27am

Zollistar, thanks for posting the link to the article. It reinforces what I have been reading about naps. I  would have liked to read the comments, but I'm not a subscriber.

 My problem ins for me  that I rarely, if ever, take a 10- 20 minute nap, but a daytime marathon of hours.  In  the morning I tend to wake up or my dog wakes me up a little after 7 AM.  I feel good if I get up then.  If I sleep another 90 minutes to 9 AM I don't want to get up.

I used to work 8 AM to 8 PM in a hospice so things were usually quiet during the night.  Sometimes I would get so sleepy I would sit in the chair and allow myself to sleep for 10 minutes.  The thing was I would have to do it more than once during the night.

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Permalink Reply by ZolliStar on September 3, 2013 at 12:53pm

I don't know if this link will take people to the comments; it not, I've copied a three below, including replies for two of them:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323932604579050990895...

I'm the only driver for our RV. After 2 hours, I want to stop and stretch or walk around outside the RV. However, on some stretches later, I get sleepy-- a very dangerous thing as you can fall asleep at the wheel BELIEVING you are awake. Did that only once and was lucky that the rumble strip awakened me quickly. For those dozy times, a short nap is critiical. Stop and park, then take about a 15-minute nap. I ask for 5 or 10 minutes; my husband wakes me after 15. That's refreshing. I agree with some of the discoveries in this study.

And the reply: 

I find that sugar free Red Bull gives me the wakefulness for a while without acting like a diuretic. I'm able to do my very frequent 8.5-hour drive with just one stop if I have to.

Squats on the break are very helpful. They pump blood through the legs, preventing clots. If you're going to take breaks every 2 hours - and that's not a bad idea - do the squats. I do this frequently on trans-Atlantic plane flights, squatting at the very back of the plane. The flight attendants get it.

New comment:

I once took a yoga class, which I despised, but it taught me how to slow down my breathing. By doing that, I'm able to nap pretty much whenever I want. I set my alarm clock for 27 minutes (I knew about the 30-minute tendency toward sleep inertia) and usually sleep for 13 to 20 minutes. When I wake up, it's as if my brain has been rebooted. I take two or three of these naps a day and manage to write and read research from about 5 am to the early evening.

And the single reply:

Your information and experience re: breathing is really useful, Ms. Alkon.

I have a sleep disorder and have noticed that if I can slow my breathing rate it is easier for me to fall asleep and/or return to sleep.

I don't like yoga but now I'm inspired to take a few lessons simply to learn how better to breathe. It would help me a great deal if, after a really bad night of on and off (but mostly off) sleep, I could manage a nap.

New comment:

Carles F. Kettering, a founder of Delco and The Kettering Foundation, inventor of the automobile electric starter, leaded gasoline, etc, took nappping to the limit, 15 minute naps every three hours. Those two hours of sleep a day was all he needed. He kept this routine for two years and gave it up only because it made scheduling the remaing twenty-two hours very difficult.

Mary Z said:

Zollistar, thanks for posting the link to the article. It reinforces what I have been reading about naps. I  would have liked to read the comments, but I'm not a subscriber.

 My problem ins for me  that I rarely, if ever, take a 10- 20 minute nap, but a daytime marathon of hours.  In  the morning I tend to wake up or my dog wakes me up a little after 7 AM.  I feel good if I get up then.  If I sleep another 90 minutes to 9 AM I don't want to get up.

I used to work 8 AM to 8 PM in a hospice so things were usually quiet during the night.  Sometimes I would get so sleepy I would sit in the chair and allow myself to sleep for 10 minutes.  The thing was I would have to do it more than once during the night.

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